Page 54 of A Tower of Half-Truths
“No, of course not! I had a magic surge just now—my first in over a year, actually.”
“Do you think the potion had something to do with it?”
“Er, not directly. My surges have always been more of an…emotional reaction.”
She looked down and realized their hands were still on each other. She cleared her throat and shifted her eyes, drawing his attention to how his fingers still pressed into her hips, though not uncomfortably. From the way his eyes widened and his face flushed, he’d also forgotten how they were standing. They both dropped their hands, backed away, exchanged a nervous laugh. But the awkwardness carried an undercurrent of regret for breaking their connection so soon.
“So, er, how long will this potion last?” Mavery asked.
“A dose of that quantity should last four hours, give or take,” Alain said. “That will give us ample time for the second phase of this test run, if you’re interested.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“We’ll take another trip to the University, see how the potion works against larger, more concentrated sources of magic. Plus, Kazamin sent word the other day that the incomplete Sensing spell he’d told us about is now available. There’s but one problem: the tome is so old and delicate, it cannot leave the library. So, if we want to study it thoroughly, what I’d hoped would be a quick trip to campus may take a few hours.”
“If you found out days ago, why haven’t you gone already?”
The High Council presentation was now less than three weeks away. She had expected him to jump at the first opportunity to continue the research that would secure his wizard rank.
“Well, Ididpromise to involve you with every step of this spell. I had to make sure the potion was ready, so you could join me without any ill effects.”
She smiled. If he continued on like this, she would feel obligated to embrace him again…though she supposed there were worse things she could do.
“By the way, what did you want to talk about?”
Mavery blinked at him. “Oh, er… Honestly, I don’t remember.” She shrugged. It wasn’t a complete lie; she’d almost forgotten about her plan to resign and leave Leyport. “Must’ve not been all that important.”
In hindsight, perhaps she’d been too hasty. Her life had been little more than an endless string of temporary arrangements, all born out of convenience and built on half-truths. Wasn’t this just the latest one? Why not stay a little longer and enjoy it while it lasted?
Eighteen
When they arrived at Kazamin’s office, the old wizard was hunched over a tome that took up the full width of his desk, examining it with a magnifying glass. Alain knocked on the doorframe, and Kazamin peered up at them with a comically enlarged eye.
“Ah, Aventus! Come in, come in,” he said. With a grunt and a creaking of joints, he closed the massive book. “It’s good to see you again! But, er, remind me why you are here. Did we have an appointment?”
“I’m here to see Enodus’s spell tome. Your letter said to report to you first.”
“Oh, of course! Bear with me for one moment while I write your pass for the portal room.”
From a desk drawer, he pulled out a leaf of vellum and a quill—archaic, even for a man his age—and began to write. While he was distracted, Mavery took the opportunity to inch toward the closest curio cabinet.
“It’s not in our library?” Alain asked.
“No, the tome is too delicate to leave the University of North Fenutia’s library. Did I not mention that in my letter?”
“You said I could view it ‘at the library.’ Now that I think on it, you didn’t specify which one.”
“My apologies. My mind has been a bit addled as of late.”
That was excellent news to Mavery. Even better, the curio cabinet’s lock appeared more decorative than protective. She wouldn’t even need her tools; a hairpin or a letter opener would do.
“Here you are,” Kazamin said. “One pass for the University of North Fenutia’s portal. When you arrive, ask to speak to Dolokir. He will be expecting you.”
“Thank you, sir, but I see this pass has only my name on it. What about my assistant?”
“Oh, no, she cannot go with you.”
That tore Mavery’s attention away from the cabinet. She stepped forward.
